Tottenham's coach furious with referee after Liverpool defeat

Coach Thomas Frank voiced his anger and publicly condemned referee John Brooks after Tottenham’s 1-2 home defeat to Liverpool, simultaneously questioning the potential three-game ban for newcomer Xavi Simons.

Liverpool visiting Tottenham was the highlight match of the 17th round in the 2025/26 Premier League. However, Liverpool faced significant challenges against their opponents. First, they lost Xavi Simons in the 33rd minute due to a red card.

Then, Tottenham allowed Liverpool to break the deadlock in the 56th minute with a goal from Alexander Isak. Unfortunately for Liverpool, the Swedish striker got injured during the shot attempt. At the 68th minute, Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead with a precise header.

Richarlison narrowed the score to 1-2 with just 7 minutes left, reigniting hope. Yet, Romero’s sending off at 90+3 minutes ended Tottenham’s chances of securing a point. With this red card, Romero is almost certain to miss matches against Crystal Palace, Brentford, and Sunderland during the club’s busy year-end schedule.

After the game, Thomas Frank expressed disagreement with the referee’s card decisions: "We received the first red card, and I have seen similar situations where cards were given before. But I have often said, even when at Brentford, that I dislike decisions that lead to red cards like this.

The match might not have been ‘over’ yet, but in my opinion, it was not a reckless tackle. He didn’t use excessive force, so it didn’t warrant a sending off. Simons chased Van Dijk, tried to apply pressure, changed direction, and unfortunately caught the heel with the studs.

People might say ‘you need to be smarter,’ but does football no longer allow physical contact? If he gets a three-match ban for a non-reckless incident, that’s completely wrong. And we probably can’t appeal it either.”

Besides that, Frank also criticized the decision to allow Liverpool’s second goal, arguing that Ekitike fouled Romero before scoring: "Tottenham responded well after Simons’ red card. As for the second goal, I think the referee made a mistake. There was clearly a double hand push on Romero’s back. I don’t understand why that wasn’t called.

We’ve seen this countless times on the pitch: a player jumps, pushes the defender’s back with both hands, and that’s a foul. Outside the penalty area, it would be called, but inside, it wasn’t. Why? That’s clearly the biggest error, both from the referee and VAR. Still, we kept fighting.”

The Danish coach also defended Romero despite the defender losing composure at a crucial moment:“I’m not sure the first yellow card was justified. Regarding the second, I saw two big players contesting. Konate charged into Romero, which was a foul.

Anyway, every player must control their emotions and keep a cool head, not just because you’re the captain. But we’re talking about an emotional player who has performed very well for this club over many years.”